Mount Vernon enjoyed the home portion of its playoff schedule, downing Carroll 42-6 on Friday, Nov. 1, at the Martha Parsons Activities Complex.
In the near-future, the UNI-Dome awaits.
But first, the Mustangs are going to have to travel 209 miles to play at Algona in the Class 3A quarterfinals Friday, Nov. 8.
“Coach just said it,” senior Ethan Wood said. “It doesn’t matter where; it doesn’t matter what field or what surface. We’ll go up there and dominate.”
“I don’t care if we have to play in the parking lot, that’s our mindset with this group,” Mount Vernon coach Brad Meester said. “What an opportunity.”
No. 4 Mount Vernon (9-1) and No. 6 Algona (9-1) are two of the final eight teams left in 3A. The other quarterfinals include No. 9 Solon (8-2) at No. 3 Humboldt (9-1) (a 186-mile jaunt); No. 10 Nevada (8-2) at No. 1 Sergeant Bluff-Luton (100) (188 miles); and No. 8 Independence (8-2) at No. 1 Dubuque Wahlert (10-0).
“We do what we do,” senior Nova Lane said. “It doesn’t matter who else is on the field. We do what we do, and we win games.”
What the Mustangs do is make life difficult for opposing quarterbacks.
Mount Vernon had seven tackles for loss in the first half, including two sacks, against Carroll.
“It is kind of a race to get to the quarterback for our D-line,” Wood said. “Our D-line is good this year. Before the game we talked about being really quick off the line and just dominating the front.”
At the half, Carroll had just 26 yards of offense and three first downs. And most of that came on a 21-yard pass play.
“Our D-line is a problem for a lot of teams,” Meester said. “If you double one guy, there’s just another one. And another one.
“They do a tremendous job of getting in the backfield. And they work together really well and just feed off each other.”
Offensively, some big throws set up most of the Mustangs scoring opportunities.
A 24-yard pass from junior Kellen Haverback to junior Michael Ryan helped during a 7-play, 53-yard drive that ended with a Haverback sneak at the end of the first quarter.
The next drive, a 9-play, 92-yard effort, was moved along with a 34-yard pass to junior Jase Jaspers from Haverback and a 35-yard pass from Haverback to Ryan, who caught it falling down.
“It was a pretty cool catch,” Ryan said. “I just kind of went for it and came down with it.”
That drive finished with a 1-yard TD by senior Cooper Hird. Mount Vernon went into half with a 21-0 lead thanks to a 47-yard scoring strike from Haverback to Ryan with 36 seconds left.
The cool temperatures didn’t bother the air attack.
“We are very thankful for how nice it is,” Meester said. “It is brisk, but compared to the last two days, it feels like summer.”
Haverback finished with 194 yards on 8-of-13 passing. Ryan had four catches for 106 yards, Jase Jaspers had three catches for 69 yards, and senior Cole Thurn had one grab for 19 yards.
“On offense, teams can’t focus on just one guy,” Meester said. “And I couldn’t ask for more from Kellen.”
Hird finished with 126 rushing yards on 25 carries. It was his first 100-yard game of the season.
“He did a phenomenal job running the ball,” Meester said.
Hird closed out the scoring with a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter. Haverback also had two TD runs in the second half (18 yards and 1 yard).
Algona got its TD on a 63-yard run by Taidyn Peterson with 1:03 to play.
“We took it to them up front,” said Lane, who had a booming hit on the QB. “No one can run on us.”